Plaiting apparatus



June 5, 11923.

M. NOEL PLAITING APPARATUS Filed May 11', 192 1; "3

Patented June 5, i923.

unit-an MAE NOEL, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. v

PLAI'IING AIPARATUS.

Application filed May 11, 1921. Serial No. 468,702.

T 0 all whom-2'1. may concern:

Be it known that I, MAE NOEL, a citizen of the United States, residingat Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Plaiting Apparatus, of which the following isa specification.

The invention has for its object the improvement of methods andapparatus of plaiting or forming creased patterns in cloth, especiallythose which involve two pattern sheets having duplicate intermesh ingcreases between which patterns the goods is laid and pressed. It hasbeen customary heretofore to roll the pattern sheets with the interposedgoods upon a drum or roller, this being ordinarily accomplished bylaying the patterns upon a large table and after adjustment in properrelation with the goods therebetween, a strong man has been employed toroll them upon the drum. This was done by laying the drum upon the endof the patterns, securing the pattern to the drum and rolling it acrossthem, the operator crawling upon the table and hearing as heavily aspossible upon the roll as he pushed it along. The arts being wound, thedrum. and materia s thereon are inserted in an oven and steamed, tocause the goods to permanently retain the pattern impressed.

The purpOse of my invention is to obviate I the necessity for thearduous work of rolling the pattern on the drum as described, and permitthe adjustment of the patterns to the goods and its compression withgreater facility and ease, enabling a woman to do the work instead of aman, as the hiring of a man is an excessive expense in this work,plaiting shops being ordinarily conducted by women.

It is a further purpose to provide a drum of light weight which may bereadily handled by women and yet possess the necessary rigidity for theuses contemplated by my invention.

It is an object also to present a machine for this purpose which will besimple to operate, and involve few parts, all of which are of acharacter to minimize liability of derangement or breakage. v

A further aim is to so construct the machine that it may be readilyoperated in a small space.

Another aim is to provide means to maintain high pressure upon thepatterns and goods as engaged upon the drum, without requiring strengthin the drum to maintain this pressure in the ordinary way.

Additional objects, advantages and features of invention reside in theconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will beunderstood from the following description and accompanying drawings,wherein,

Figure 1 is an isometric perspective of a machine constructed inaccordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation with parts removed to show theform of the guide slots;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of the drum and platen rollin operation upon patterns and goods;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary front elevation of the machine;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary'longitudinal section of the drum;

I Figure 6is a detail of the winding shaft guide bearing;

Fig. 7 is a detail of an adjustable support for the mechanism; Fig. 8 isa fragmentary illustration showing a spring for bearing the drum uponthe roll; Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail of the pattern and goods as fedto the roll, and illustrated in Fig. 8.

There is illustrated a machine which includes a table part 10 which maybe of any suitable length, supported, if desired, at one end by theframe standards 11 of the machine, the standards being provided withbrackets 12 for this purpose.

The machine is of identical construction at each side.

Between the standards thereis mounted a platen. roll 13 having its shaftor trunnions 14E permanently journalled in the standards. This roll isof a size to'bring its periphery at the upper side on a levelv with thetop of the table 10, and the table top is projected and undercut to lieclose to and conform to the shape of the roll, as indicated at 15 inFigure p I The standards 11 are provided with Ver tical slots 16 thereinalined with the aXis of the roll 13, and having vertically slidable andrevoluble therein spool-shaped guide bearings blocks 17 provided withrectangular oponinn s18 therethrongh These blocks receive slidablytherethrougha rectangular drum-operatingshaft 19 having hand cranks 20at the ends. The drum 21 consists of a number or circular heads 22which.

may be of Wood having a multiplicityof narrow slats 23 secured to theirperipher es in close spaced parallel relation. To rac1l1 tate engagementof the shaft 19 in the drum the lat-tar y be P id d With arectangular'tub'e 2 1-suitably mounted in the head 22 and flared attheouter ends. will t lso reduce liability or twisting of the drum v tl ietorque in case it is desired tooperate thedrum by one crank only. 7 t l"The tube 24; may be mounted in flange plates 25 secured to respectiveheads 22.

"o t er-e1 slightly below the top of the druni21 When resting; upon theroll 13 the slotslh are enlarged as art- 26 in Figure 2 providingenlarged vertical slots 27, in

ivhich there is loosely revoluble a Weightroll 28 ,ordinarily,in theform or a section er iron pipe. Thi is of a length 'to' proiect adistance oiitwardy through each of 'thestandarcls l1, and if desired,may be proneed ivith collars 29 to assist in its adjustment andretention in proper medialepost thereon and thus supported, out of theWaytion in the frame. The slots 27 are provided at their upper ends Withlateral extensions 27" with slightj. dip, 1 )roviding shoulders 31, sothat the roll 28 may be lifted and set While introducing or removing adrum.

The r 112]. is of a length less than the space between the standards, topermit its A ready introduction and removal to and from position in themachine, and has been customarily made about six inches in diameter,

the platen roll being of the same diameter, although this is notessential. The roll28- has been formed or two-inch pipe. I

If desired, the shaftlt) may be'provided ith removable pins 30 to limitits insertion through the guide blocks 17 ,therelo-y obviatliability ofadjustment of the cranks so as to strike the ends or the roll 28 -Topermit, adjustment or the pressure upon the drum 2,8,;vvhen the WGlQhtof the V roll 28 is not sufficient for the chhracter of work to be done,I have provided an end 3 less 32 at each-end of the rolL hanging uponits-"projecting parts, and pendant therefrom. In the lower part or thisbelt,

. 2'1 retaliate in position with the saga .1

inse d WW P t s 5 a e l id av bear upon and hold the patterns and goodsthereunder in proper relation dur ng the I the table'with a paper bedsheet 36'thereunder of equal Width, but greaterflength. The'sh'eet 36started upon the drum so as to form three or four layer thereon beforeany or the patternis engaged The goods 85 having beenadjusted'properlybetween the patterns and the patterns properly intermeshed and laid on the sheet 36, the lead tongue 37 or the patternsisinserted under the roll so as to begin the take-up of the pattern. Atthis point the roll'28 is lifted from the shoulders 31 and lowered intothe Wide slot 27 so to rest .upon the upper side or the drum, andWhatever Weights 3 1 hat may be necessary are placed uponthe hooks 33.Elongated Weight element's ivhicli' maybe termed floats are also adjusted upon the tops of the patterns, 'arfranged longitudinally of thetable; so as to subsequent operations. Two of these floats areordinarilysu'flicient They are planiinclined faces so that they may extend partlyforward under the drum, and are form on their under side'sand have theirforward ends shaped Wltl'l curved rea'riva'rdly shaped, so thattheifloatsmay hearag'ainst the drum Without blocking'it, being bornethereagainst by the patterns a they slide forward When the completepatterns-"andbed sheet are engaged uponthe' drum, hands ted around thedrum, and tied s'o as toj hOlCl the parts securely thereon, and the drumlifted out on to the table tonpermit reinoval of 'the shaft' 19,. Thedrum With the Wound patterns and interposed goods thereon is thenintroduced into a;,steamchest in a customary Way to set the goods intherornrin Which itis held loyvthe'piate tel-rises. v

The n achine is adaptedto be manufactured at a low cost, andinstalled at'a mini;v mum of expense, and is adapted to ready use byinexperiencedoperatives. lVhen the machine is not "being usedg the table part maybeput to general uses of shops doing varied Work Without liability orimpairment er the machine the machine partsthen occupying littleadditional room. i ny the use or the roll 28 to apply pressnre. insteador applying pressure to the. shafts of the-drum, the hearing or the roll28 equally upon the drum throughout its length remove liability oftheresilience of vthe patterns and good distorting the drum by raisingits middle portion, which would prevent proper compressing and creasingor the goods equally at; all parts: This makesit possible to usea'druniof er;- treinely light construction ivhiohfican be readily handled byyoung" girls or others of moderate physical strength. V j

u should. he note that the platen rollis virtually V a continuation. ofthe" table 2 and the llO use

roll may be omitted and the drum rotated directly upon the table, whichwould thus become a platen. The roll is utilized to lessen friction.

An opening 39 is formed from the slots 27 at their upper ends throughthe inner edges of the standards, so that after the wei ht-roll islifted into the recess 52? the drum and its shaft may be lifted out ofthe standards in the direction of the table, permitting subsequentremoval of the shaft 19 whenever most convenient, and also allowininsertion of the shaft similarly. The empty drum may be put in themachine in the corresponding reverse way, the shaft being inserted, themembers 1? put in place and the shaft and parts thereon lifted intoposition through the opening 39. The shaft 19 may be made in twosections if desired, as indicated in Figure 4, and'the sections insertedin the drum after it is adjusted over the platen roll 13.

If desired, in order to make the device readily adjustable towork-benches, without requiring the table part to be a part of theequipment sold by manufacturers, the height of the machine may be madeadjustable as indicated in Figure 7. Therein the standards 11 are eachmade with a separate foot piece 11 receiving the upper parts of thestandards slidably therein, and secured in adjusted positions by boltsand nuts 40.

Instead of a weight, a spring device may be used to apply extra pressureto the drum, as indicated in Figure 8, where an eye bolt i1 is mountedin the foot piece of the stand.- ard, to which a helical spring 42 isanchored, the other end of which is engaged by the hook yoke 33 beforedescribed.

In actual practice, with certain jobs, as, where a very light goods isto be plaited, and with certain patterns, the use of extra weight, orany weight other than that of the drum itself, may be dispensed with.should be noted also, that the belt 32 may be engaged directly upon theshaft 19 instead of the weight-roll 28.

The patterns 35 referred to are customarily made of stiff paper in longsheets which have been crimped or scored and folded inthe form which itis desired to impart to the goods. Two such patterns are employed,

which are first stretched out one at a time, p

the goods being laid on one and the other pattern then laid over thegoods, the crease lines of the patterns being alined so that by pressingthe patterns longitudinally in opposite directions so as to shortenthem, they may be pressed into the approximate form which the finishedpleat shall have, the alternate bends of one pattern lying closelywithin like bends of the other and forcing the goods into a similarform, making plaits. The whole body of patterns and interposed goods isthen Wound upon the machine, the outer windings confining and pressingupon those within, holding the goods so that the plaits may become setaccurately. v

What is claimed: .l. Ina plaiting machine of the character described,the combination of a table element, a roll in close relation thereto, awind ing drum mounted. in yieldingbearing upon 3. A machine for thepurposes described comprising a frame, a platen roll mounted therein, aremovable drum revoluble there over and movable upwardly, means torotate the drum, a weight roll mounted to rest upon the drum andprojecting a distance therebeyond at each end, and weight carrying meansmounted thereon disengageable by relative longitudinal movement withrespect to the weight roll.

4-.-A machine for the purpose described comprising a frame, a platenroll mounted therein, a removable drum revoluble thereover and movableupwardly, means to rotate the drum, a weight roll mounted to restuponthe drum and projecting a distance therebeyond at each end, weightcarrying means removably mounted thereon, and means to support theweight roll in elevated position.

5. A machine for the purposes described comprising a frame, a platenroll therein, said frame having slots formed in each side thereof radialwith respect to the roll, a drum on the roll having axial parts extendedthrough the slots, a weight roll to rest upon the drum having partsextended through the slots, weight elements engaged therewith, and meansto support the weight roll spaced abo e the drum at times.

6. A machine of the character described comprising a frame, a platenelement, a drum revoluble thereover, said frame having alined slotsformed in each side thereof, said drum having an angular axial passagetherein, a corresponding angular shaft insertable through the slots forengagement in the passage rotating means on the shaft, and means toapply weight to the drum.

7. In a plaiting machine, the combination of a table, patterns slidablethereon, a vertically movable drum revoluble closely thereover, means torotate the drum, and

transversely spaced members adapted torest the drum and means to connectthe patterns slidingly" upon the patterns shaped to fit for Winding tothe drum said patterns being partly under the drum and extending fromshaped to coact andhold interposed goods the'drum longitudinally of thetable a co nto a desired shape when compressed.

5 siderable distance. In testimony whereof I have afiixed my 15- 8. Amachine for plaiting comprising a signature in presence of twoWitnesses.

platen element, a drum 'revoluble thereover MAE NOEL. positioned to reston the platen and mounted Witnesses: for vertical movement, means torotate the HATTIE O. BERRY,

drum, flexible pattern devices Windalole upon JAMES G; BERRY. I

